


That's not my name

by KeithTheQueer



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Shazam! (2019), Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Homelessness, Humor, Kidnapping, Nonbinary Character, Torture, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27138832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeithTheQueer/pseuds/KeithTheQueer
Summary: Homeless children are disappearing in Fawcett and the League isn't getting any further. Captain Marvel just wants to sleep but it's hard to transform when Batman is watching every step you take. Superman causes a distraction but Billy ends up getting kidnapped.This is the unedited version, the edited version will soon be uploaded, so beta reads are welcome :D
Comments: 2
Kudos: 92





	That's not my name

Captain Marvels' secret identity has always been a mystery for Batman.  
There were no reports of anyone looking even anything like the Captain, not even on the many security cameras that Bruce funded in Fawcett. The only person that had a similar face was the long-dead C.C Batson, who had died around seven years before the first appearance of Captain Marvel. Only his children remained Milly and Mary Batson. One of the girls had disappeared at the age of eight, leaving only the other behind, who was now around ten and living on the streets.  
It caused Batman headaches almost every day for the last two years. He never understood the Captain's generosity. Not even Superman was as pure and selfless as the man, and that spoke for itself. Not only that but the Captain held too much power, in the literal sense but also the emotional, which Batman would never admit.  
He had come to trust and be fond of the other man. It must be a spell or something.

"Master Bruce? I have been calling you for dinner for the last ten minutes", a frail hand came to rest on his shoulders, Batman barely registered the warmth through the thick armor, "have you been researching about him again?"

The only answer the butler got was a scowl as the Batman stood up from his seat at the huge screen, filled with pictures and reports of the other hero, "I'll be upstairs in a minute Alfred"

with a sigh the butler ascended the stairs to the manor, closing the door with only a last concerned glance to Bruce, who was unfastening his armor.

\-----

"Hey stop you little brat!"

dark alleyways passed by the small boy as he ran through them. The slap of his bare feet on the wet stone accompanied by the distant trampling of shoes.

The boy turned around another corner a small bundle of cloth clutched tightly over his wildly beating heart. He stopped abruptly and stared up the empty alleyway. Nothing except moldy walls accompanied him and the little package in his arms. Billy let out a breath, calming himself.

"I said stop!"

A group of teens entered the alleyway stopping abruptly and looking around, "where did he go?"

Billy just chuckled and let himself fall back onto the roof, the sun hitting his dirtied face, warming him up.

"phew that was something wasn't it?", Billy chuckled as he stared down and onto the piece of cloth in his grip.

the only answer he got was a small peep before the cloth wriggled around and a small bird hopped onto his chest, its red and yellow feathers gleaming in the light as it stared at the boy.

"my names billy, what's yours?", billy stared into the beady black eyes as the bird cocked it head to the side, "how about Mary? That's the name of my sister, I haven't seen her in a while so it should be fine, I bet she would like you"

The bird replied by headbutting the nose of billy, making the boy chuckle, "good, I hoped you would like it"

Mary chirped happily and sprung up and down, opening her beak to demand being fed.

Billys' laugh faded his smile becoming forced, "Are you hungry I don't know what birds can eat, I hope it includes old tuna sandwiches because that's the only thing I've got"

The small bird sprung upon his shoulders as billy shifted to sit up. He grabbed at one of his jean pockets, pulling out a heavily squished sandwich. if you could even call it that.

Billy stared at the sandwich in his hands for a long painful moment before holding it up to his shoulder, "here eat up"

A small series of chirps followed by a peck at his ear had Billy turning his head, staring at the bird, who looked back at him with an angry look, "don't you like tuna?"

The bird wriggled its head furiously, hopping onto the sandwich to bite his finger instead.

Billy blinked confused, then blanched "do you eat humans?"

The bird seemed to sigh, while Billy was wondering about the few biology classes that he had and if any of them mentioned birds being so expressive.

"What do you eat then?", Billy asked, staring at the small ball of feathers.

A long staring contest ensued between the two, the boy staring at the bird in wonder while it was deep in thought.

A small lightbulb briefly appeared over the birds' head as it perked up, before chomping down on Billy's nose violently.

"oww!", the boy squeaked, a small dose of his magic coming trough as a defense mechanism, electrifying the bird. Who then fell onto the roof, limply.

"NO! I'm sorry Mary I didn't mean to hurt you again!", Billy threw away his tuna sandwich to cradle the small bird in his hands. Tears welled up in his eyes as the screaming of a small girl rang in his ears. "Not again, I didn't mean to Mary please don't leave me"

The lifeless body of the bird fell to ashes, Billy's eyes widening, his shoulders slumping. He had killed his best friend yet again. The ashes seeped through his hands and onto the ground, the wind carrying most of it away, the sun didn't seem as warm now, a cold breeze made the boy shiver.

"I'm sorry Mary, I didn't mean to. I couldn't save you from them after all"

His forehead rested on the cold stone roof, small teardrops wetting the stone underneath him. A sudden warmth spread over his back as if a ray of sun hit it. Billy looked up from kneeling postítion to stare up at the huge bird in front of him.

"Thank you, Billy, I just needed a little magic to get me back up, sorry about that", The deep rumbling voice sounded in his head as he stared at the birds' black beady eyes, that now held a smart shine to them.

"Mary?", the ten-year-old asked, the last of his tears dripping from his chin, mixed with snot as he roughly wiped it away, his eyes never leaving the bird.

The bird, a huge red and yellow mix of a stork and an eagle leaned down before rubbing their cheeks together, "yes, thanks to you I could escape those kids, I owe a favor to you"

Billys' eyes shone, "really? and I didn't hurt you?"

"No, I just needed my magic back"

"But won't you be too big for my pocket then?", Billy asked with concern.

"No"

The boy blinked in confusion, a small bird stood before him now, staring up at him with mischief in its eyes.

"That's so cool!", Billy lifted the bird with both hands, putting it in the pocket of his hoody, before turning around to find his tuna sandwich on the dirty ground.

He grabbed the sandwich and sat back down biting into it, ignoring the scrunches of stones between his teeth, " a small bite would hurt though" the voice sounded from inside his head as Mary poked her head out of his pocket.

\----

"So you mean you just found this huge phoenix flying around and it decided to become your partner?"

The leagues' room was quiet, its occupants all staring at the huge red bird perched on Captain mArvels shoulder, who looked a bit embarrassed, "yep, pretty much"

Batman sighed but let it go as he brought up the last mission's report and the heroes continued discussing it.

Another magic user, one that they didn't have any photos of, had started stealing kids of the streets in Fawcette, much to Billy's dismay.

Around ten kids had been reported missing, from the ages of four up to fifteen, none of them had any relations, most of them homeless or in foster homes, not that it was anything out of the ordinary in Fawcett.

All of the heroes that didn't already patrol in the city (everyone except Captain Marvel) would go on patrols together throughout the week.

"any wishes for team-ups?", Superman asked around the table, most of the heroes would go in pairs, none had to ask them. Others like Batman or the Flash were more effective alone.

After the team-ups were decided they put up a schedule, most heroes would have to work in stealth, Fawcett may be magically oblivious to costumes but questions were bound to be asked if people like Superman or Wonder Woman showed up.

Billy continued to mindlessly stroke Mary throughout the meeting, the other heroes didn't ask him for his opinion often, he was deemed as too childish, which he couldn't deny. He was ten years old after all, even if he did possess the knowledge of Solomon. It hurt sometimes, but with Mary to accompany him, it was only a little tickle in the back of his head.

It took around two hours to finally decide who would patrol when and where. Billy sometimes chirped in with little tips and tricks. Alleyways that weren't registered on the map or shops where one could hide and keep a watch for anything suspicious. No one paid him any mind, but anytime he said anything the typing noise from Batman accompanied him, so at least someone was listening to him. Though Batman was probably writing down his habits or noting how he could be taken down in case he was evil.

The meeting was soon over and everyone went on their ways.

Captain Marvel noted that he had to be more discreet when transforming, or one of the heroes would find him. The next few weeks would be stressful and he hoped the kidnapper would be found soon so that he could return to his normal patrols.

\---

The week was going surprisingly well, he had not met any of the other heroes, although he had seen Diana in one of his recommended cafes.

He still spent nearly 24/7 in his hero form because of his paranoia, especially due to not seeing Batman anywhere. It wore him down and by the end of the week, he was spending most of his time sleeping on rooftops, Mary keeping an eye out for the kidnapper and the other heroes.

She was turning out to be one of the best decisions Billy had ever taken in his life, she had become a trusty sidekick and an even better friend. She was great with the many homeless kids and her surprise attacks were vicious. One time he even had to restrain her as she nearly tore out the eyes of a rapist, even if he waited a few seconds too long. He wasn't as pure as many of his colleagues thought, he had his own few experiences with... less nice folk.

"found anything yet, Mary?", Captain Marvel raised his elbow so that the phoenix could land on it.

Mary shook her head, "Just the usual, boss"

"Don't call me that", Billy shook his head before he walked over to the end of the roof to sit on it, Mary still on his arm, "I should probably start checking out the kids more, if Batman could leave his drones on second alone I could transform and ask them properly"

"Yeah, as much as they trust you, a kid their age will probably get more answers, shall I attack one of the drones as a distraction?", Mary looked over to him, a mischievous look in her eyes.

Billy chuckled, "no, it would be too obvious, we just need a distraction"

"do you?", a masculine voice asked from behind.

Captain Marvels and Marys' heads turned around, meeting the blue eyes of Superman, "how much of that did you hear?"

Superman smiled and huffed, "just your part honestly, I don't speak bird. But I know a plan when I see one"

Billy let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding, "ok, how do you plan on distracting him?"

"I have my ways", a gleam of something appeared in the heroes' eyes, "Youll have around ten minutes to transform'. When you want to change back just send a sign with your bird"

Superman was one of the few in the League that trusted Billy and regularly would talk to him, even if Billy was still a bit overwhelmed by his childhood idol.

"Ok, thanks", Captain Marvel stood up and let Mary fly away before nodding over to Superman, who nodded back before disappearing in a flicker.

The hero jumped off the roof with ease and slit into an alleyway, Batmans' drones were everywhere in the city, the red light indicating that they were filming. Billy stared as one of them flew by the entrance of the alleyway, it turned to him before the red light flickered out and it continued its way down the street.

Billy let out a huff before transforming behind a garbage can.

The familiar burn of the lighting hit him within seconds, leaving him in his mortal form. A baggy red hoody and red jeans replacing the cape and golden jewelry. Nausea and hunger hit him as fast as the lightning itself.

He hadn't eaten or slept nearly an entire week, and while Captain Marvel couldn't feel Billys' pain, Billy still could.

Closing his eyes, Billy leaned on the wet stone wall, slowly sliding down onto the ground, sleep overtook him against his will.

A shadow hovered over him and Billy strained to look up with half-lidded eyes, the figure leaned over Billy, their face too blurry to make out, "look at what we have here, and I thought the Bats's drones would never leave me alone"

\---

Mary flew over the familiar streets of Fawcett as she felt a tug in her chest, "Billy", she breathed out, her neck craning to look behind her. But the hero already was out of her sight, the building he had stood on just a fleck on the horizon.

\---------

"No, Clark, water is not wet, how often do I have to explain that to you"

Batman sat on his chair, his back turned to the huge monitors, talking to Clark with his hands on his forehead.

Clark laughed inwardly at the sight of Bruce so stressed, "I don't get it, water is fluid so its wet"

Bruce growled a "No it's not"

"Okay okay", Clark raised his hands in surrender, ten minutes were already over but it was fun to annoy the Bat.

His eyes flickered over to see the familiar red bird dance vigorously in front of the cameras. The Captain already needed to transform back?

"But isn't lava wet?"

Bruce slammed his head into his hands.

\----

Cold hands slithered over Billy's naked arms, stopping at the elbows before roughly fastening a leather belt around it, cutting off most of the blood circulation. Steps sounded throughout the huge room, to the other side of Billy, where the other arm was fixed the same way.   
Billy tried to raise his head to see the other person but found that one of the belts was already around his throat, and a piece of cloth itched around his eyes. The room stank like old fish and mold, an odd mix of humid warmth and a biting cold tickled his skin.

"You're the perfect specimen, not like those other weak kids. Although I was hoping for a boy", a frail hand ran over his leg, an intimate touch, before they violently grabbed another belt to fasten around his ankle, strapping him to the table completely.

Billy's eyes widened, his heart began to race, he wasn't sure if he should feel disgusted with himself or the other person.

"No", he involuntarily whispered

The other leaned closer, through their voice a smile was recognizable, "what was that?"

Billy could feel their ear mockingly hovering above his face, in a fit of desperation and anger he bit into it, tasting blood and dirt.

The kidnapper screamed, their hand closing in around Billy's throat, nails digging into Billy's already scarred flesh.

"Stupid kid!", the voice screamed, tearing their head from Billys' grip, a piece of flesh still in between his teeth, Billy spat it out in disgust.

Without another word the figure grabbed Billys' waist, their hands traveling up to his ribs, when they found the first one they pushed roughly. With a disgusting pop followed by a crack the rib came loose and began to painfully dig into his muscles, Billys screamed as his back arched into the touch.

"Now you can't run away, I've always liked the torso more than the legs, more nerve endings", the voice chuckled, it sounded like a witches laugh from one of the Halloween movies Billy remembered. He didn't know if it was good or bad that he couldn't see his attackers face.

With a last goodbye press, the figure let go of Billys' rib, it felt weird when it tried to spring back in place, a huge bruise already forming over it. With every shallow breath, it clicked.

"So, since you can't run away anymore I would like to ask were my Phoenix went"

Billy's heart stopped again, were they talking about Mary? They couldn't be, Mary would've told Billy something like that.

"Phoenixes aren't real, idiot", Billy gritted out between his teeth, his arms were tugging at the belt so that he could hold his ribs. But they didn't budge.

The other laughed again, nearly sounding like the Joker, maybe they were related?

"I can taste his magic on you, don't fool me" as if to demonstrate it the figure licked over his stomach. Their tongue is calloused and warm.

Billy forced down a shudder, "are you a pedophile or something, weirdo"

The person didn't reply and Billy almost missed their evil laugh.

"You still there or something?", Billy asked uncertainly, he could still somewhat sense the person but maybe it was just paranoia.

When no reply came Billy let himself stare up at the ceiling again, or where he hoped the ceiling was.

\------

"Ok, I admit defeat, lava isn't wet, and neither is water", He and Bruce had been arguing over that issue for almost half an hour now. A few screens having been destroyed in the process. 

Bruce sighed and slumped back in his seat, a calming aura surrounding them, it turned more serious, "Why do you keep following the Captain so often? I don't think he has slept since the whole mission"

"I don't trust him", Bruce replied, his eyes fixated on the screens that weren't broken.

Clark leaned on Bruces' seat looking over his shoulders and onto the screens as well, "I think that you trust him, you just don't trust yourself"

Bruces' shoulders tightened, "I trust people on who I have information on"

"And you don't have any info on him, yet you still trust him"

"What is the bird doing?", Bruce changed the topic, pointing to one of the screens, where a red bird pecked the drone angrily.

"I don't know", Superman leaned forward staring at the bird, it seemed panicked.

"Have you seen the Captain anywhere?", Batman asked, his eyes going from one screen to the other searching.

"It's probably nothing" if it was a sign from the Captain that he wanted to be unseen again Superman wasn't going to take the risk, hed have to trust the other man and distract Batman further "How about we eat some dinner first?"

Bruce sighed but stood up 

\---

Silence

Never did Billy think that it could bother him so much. It could've been hours in which he was trapped on the table with no chance to see or hear anything, only the smell of fish and mold told him that it must be an old warehouse near a dock or something. The kidnapper hadn't come back, or maybe they never left and were just standing there, staring at Billy until he fell asleep.

After a while his rib was so swollen he could feel it straining at his skin, every second he could swear it would finally break through his flesh but that moment never came. But even worse than his ribs was the constant pressure of the belts on his arms and legs, especially the one around his neck chaffed his skin. After a few hours, everything started tingling it was uncomfortable and made him want to move, which was rewarded by more chaffing on his skin. The blood circulation pretty much everywhere was cut off and he felt bloated and lightheaded with the blood in his body. A constant ringing broke the silence after two hours, and Billy didn't know if it was worse or better than the constant silence.

"Mary please get help, Batman, Superman, anyone", Billy croaked out tears running down his face "please"

a sob caught in his throat and he felt ashamed, the Champion, the mightiest of mortals, CAptain MArvel. Crying like a baby wanting his mother. He bit his tongue but his back still arched with every sob, his rib clicking painfully every time.

"They don't care about you", a young boy answered and Billy startled. So there was another person in the room too.

The boy sounded serious, broken as if he was speaking from experience.

"They, the heroes, never cared about me, they took everything. Even when I called for help, they never came", the figure stepped closer to Billy, their feet bare from the sound of it, "Especially Captain Marvel"

Billy's breath hitched

"You must be important to him if the birds magic is on you so much", his voice was younger now, bitterness letting him sound almost as young as Billy. His voice was familiar.

"Freddy?"

"Milly? I didn't recognize you", Freddy chuckled, stepping closer.

Billy looked over to his old friend or as much as one could look with a blindfold, "It's Billy, I'm a boy"

"Oh, ok, well it's still Freddy for me", Freddy laughed nervously.

"How did you even get here? Did they kidnap you too?"

Silence

"Not exactly, no"

\----

"He's been gone for quite a while"

Bruce and Clark were sat in a small coffee shop in Fawcett, both men disguised as a middle-class couple, their hair slicked back, wearing dress shirts with shorts. A look neither of them was overly fond of, but it worked well enough.

Bruces sipped at his coffee, "yes, but we haven't had any reports from the Flash, so he should be fine"

Clark was staring out of the window right across the street, where a pizza place was, "actually, I don't think he's patrolling right now"

"what?", Bruce put his cup back down following Clarks stare, to find Barry staring back at them, a pizza halfway to his mouth.

With a sigh Bruce pulled out his phone, across the street Barry answered

"I was hungry"

"You're always hungry. Anything from Captain Marvel yet? Haven't heard from him in four hours"

"He's on patrol?"

With another sigh, Bruce hung up and drank the last bit of coffee. Clark followed the example and soon the two of them were out on the streets with Barry, who was trying not to laugh.

"I take you two are undercover", the Flash snickered, still in costume.

"Yes, but at least we're doing our job", that made the other man shut up as they made their way to the meeting room.

Clark nervously looked between the two other men, unsure if he should mention Captain Marvel's plan. The hero never mentioned being gone so long, the sun was already setting and Batmans' shift would start soon. Usually, the mission wasn't important enough for Superman and Batman to attend but over ten kids were gone and the chances of them being alive were fading by the minutes. Which is why the Captain should've already reported back.

The three entered the towers' meeting room, surprised to find a red bird perched on Captain Marvels' staring straight at them, with an angry stare, a scroll gently held in its' beak.

"Uhh, isn't that Caps' bird?", Barry asked walking up to the Phoenix.

Batman followed, opening up his drones camera feed, already searching for the man.

Barry stared at the bird, slowly reaching out a hand to take the scroll. But the bird had other things in mind as it snapped its beak at the hero, who in return shouted and disappear in a blur behind Superman.

"You try getting the thing from that bird, I'm not losing a finger to it"

Superman wordlessly walked over to the bird, who didn't move an inch when the hero took the scroll and started reading it.

"It's a spell to create a dragon?", the man read aloud, then looked at Batman, "it needs 12 innocent souls and a phoenix in order to transform it"

"Alright if we count Captain Marvel he's got 11 innocent souls and the phoenix is right here", Barry said, leaning casually over one of the chairs, "he probably can't kill the kids, and Captain Marvel, if he doesn't have the bird"

"So we just have to keep it here while we find them", Superman replied, "if he doesn't have another phoenix"

Batman turned away from the screens to the other men, "They're rather rare from what I know. But I can't find any trace of the kids or Captain Marvel. If the bird has the scroll it probably knows where he is"

The three looked at each other in pain.

"This is going to be a great mission", Berry groaned while Mary gawked.

\----

"Have you been keeping watch on the kid as I told you?", the screeching of a door echoed in the room, breaking the silence between the two boys.

Freddy perked up, "yes! sir or ma'am or uh... yes boss!"

Billys' kidnapper only replied with a mumbled "good" before they made their way over to Billy, their cold hands running up his arms slowly, "it seems as if the champion and his phoenix aren't responding to the bait, I think it would be appropriate to... make our invitation more clear"

Billy's heart stopped beating for a second, everything slowed down in anticipation. What would happen? The tone in their voice was different. Billy tossed around violently in panic.

The hand on his arm gripped him tighter. Long nails digging into his flesh. AGonizing pain shot up his arm as they rammed needles into his fingertips. His back arched and he screamed.

Slowly it dug further into his skin the pain only a small tingling in his finger, an itch shot up his numbed arms. The putrid smell of blood wasn't registered in Billys' brain, the cold sweat on his skin didn't cool him down. No, everything was numb as if he was in a dream, in the back of his head he noticed that he was still screaming. Only the disgusting feeling of the needles in his fingers was there, the feeling circulating throughout his veins as if someone was pulling strings through them.

The feeling stopped growing for a moment, the needles stuck in his flesh, buried almost halfway up in his fingers. No longer moving but still painful. 

Billy dared to lift his head against the restraints, and as if he was surfacing up from the water sound and smell slowly came back to him. At first only as a deafening ringing and the iron smell of blood, then screams. But not his screams, no, a child's and another adult.

"Get the boy!", a gruff voice, Batman Billy registered, shouted.

Unfamiliar hands touched his body, huge and warm but the pain was too resent and Billy panicked.

"NO!", Billy was struggling against the bond, the hands holding him down, soon another pair, smaller this time, grabbed his arm and yanked the needles out at lightning speed. Billy screamed again, the pain in his rib overwhelming the one of his fingers. Soon the restraints followed and Billy tried to punch whoever was holding him, but they didn't budge.

"Shh, it's alright I'm here, you're alright", a deep rumbling voice spoke in his ear as warm arms surrounded him, Superman.

Billy went limp in the heroes' hold, and his senses returned. No more screaming was heard. It was silents as if everyone was holding their breath.

"Are you alright?", Superman asked.

Billy just nodded, the arms around him loosened and Superman slowly grabbed the blindfold, carefully ripping it off.

For a moment everything was too bright, Superman's fatherly smile blinding him. On his shoulder sat Mary, chirping at him as if to say that it was alright, "Where's Freddy?"

Superman blinked confused, then he remembered the other boy, "He was fighting the villain when we found you, he's a bit roughed up, but he's with Batman now"

Billy sighed and let himself relax against Supermans' chest, tears wetting the man's emblem, "Thank you"

\----

"Where's Captain Marvel?", Batman asked Superman as the man exited the old warehouse.

Superman shrugged, "I haven't seen him, are the kids alright?"

"Yes they're all unharmed, except of course the girl and the boy, but they should be alright, physically at least"

"Ok, we should call the Captain then, maybe he got caught up?"

"Uh, actually I'm right here", Both men turned around to find a tired-looking Captain Marvel standing in the alleyway, scratching his cheek nervously.

Batman stepped forward, anger in his tone, "Where were you?"

Superman raised his hands in surrender and stepped between the two, "I bet he has a good reason"

The man sighed his shoulders dropping in defeat, it was the first time they had seen him look so serious, "I have to tell you something"

Superman and Batman looked at each other in question before turning to Captain Marvel, "wha-"

"Shazam!"

A bolt of lightning struck where the hero stood, and for a second both heroes stopped breathing. Then the light faded and a small child, maybe eight or nine greeted them, heavily bandaged fingers and torso, "My names Billy Batson and I'm Captain Marvel"

At that moment Mary decided to sweep in and land on the kids' shoulder, gawking in pride. The kid just laughed and pet the bird, ignoring the two baffled men staring at them.

\---

"Billy are you there?", Freddy asked the white curtain separating the two boys and their hospital beds.

"... yes", came from the other side.

"I'm sorry that they hurt you, I thought they would punish the heroes but they didn't. Captain Marvel didn't even show up"

"It's okay Fred, just don't do it again, I only have so many fingers", the two boys shared a laugh.

The door opened with a squeak and a doctor came in, " A reporter came in, Clark Kent, he said he'd like to talk to a Miss Milly Batson"

"uh, that would be me", the bed ruffled as Billy stood up from the bed, walking over to the door, with a last galnce to his friend he disappeared behind the door. Leaving Freddy alone.

"Next time I'll get him for you Billy, next time"

\---

When Billy entered the room he was greeted by Batman instead of Clark. The man looked a bit ridiculous with all the shining white surrounding him, the black cowl a contrast to the colors around him.

"Hello, Mr. Batman", Billy closed the door behind him as he sat opposite from Batman. The room looked like it belonged to the staff, medical supplies laying around the small chill area that he and Bruce sat at.

"Hello, Billy, I take that you've been recovering well", surprisingly the usual growl of Batman was gone, leaving behind Bruce Wayne.

Billys blushed and looked down at his hands, he must have seen his records, "Yes, thanks to you, sir"

Bruce leaned back in his seat, "That's good. I just came to tell you that the other children have been placed in foster homes"

Billy looked up in shock but Bruce was already raising a hand to silence him, "Personally checked of course"

Billy relaxed against his seat, as the other spoke up again, "the villain, Val, as they called themself is awaiting their trial, no need for you to give your witness report"

"That's great", Billy stared up at the ceiling, "you know. I never even saw their face, I'm not sure I want to"

"You know you always have a place in the Justice League, we all decided to let you stay"

Billys' eyes stared at Bruce again in shock and hope, "that is of course under one rule; you have to attend a therapist once a month and get an apartment, paid by League funds of course"

He sighed but nodded, "thank you", he said to Burce before standing up and walking to the door.

"I've also updated your record, it seemed quite a few things were outdated, Billy"

\-----


End file.
